Next step, ECHL title?

Stockton opens the season with a bigger goal in mind

STOCKTON - The banner celebrating last season's Western Conference championship will be unfurled. Moments later, the puck will drop and the Thunder will begin the task of finishing the job and bringing the Kelly Cup to Stockton.

STOCKTON - The banner celebrating last season's Western Conference championship will be unfurled. Moments later, the puck will drop and the Thunder will begin the task of finishing the job and bringing the Kelly Cup to Stockton.

The Thunder opens the 2013-14 season against the Colorado Eagles at 7:30 p.m. today at Stockton Arena, and the best finish in franchise history has changed expectations among the team and its fans.

Stockton always has been a decent team with a good fan base. Now the Thunder is the defending conference champion with nine returning players and plenty of reasons for optimism. Captain Garet Hunt and his teammates welcome the added pressure.

"We want to become known as one of the teams that will always be a contender for the Kelly Cup," said Hunt, who has played a team-record 314 games with the Thunder.

"We want to be a team like Alaska, a team that's always good and has built a reputation for winning. We want that."

Stockton has gone through a slew of changes in the offseason. It has a new NHL affiliation (the New York Islanders), a new team president (Brian Sandy replaced Dan Chapman) and a new coach (Rich Kromm came in after Matt Thomas went to the University of Alaska-Anchorage).

Sandy and Kromm are committed to building on Stockton's recent success.

"They did a wonderful job here last season and had a great run, and our challenge is to finish it and win the cup," said Kromm, who coached the Evansville IceMen last season.

Rookie goalie Parker Milner knows what it's like to win a title. The Islanders' product won an NCAA crown with Boston College in 2012 and said it was clear what was expected when he got to Stockton.

"The first day of training camp, Garet and others let it be known what happened last season and what we need to accomplish this season," Milner said.

The fans also are optimistic, although many acknowledge that it's hard to make predictions with all the roster moves in minor league hockey. Iliana Choate of Rio Vista, a season-ticker holder for six years, is excited about the returning players and the changes.

"Last season was spectacular, and it makes you want more," Choate said. "We have a lot of our good players back, and I'm excited about the new coach. (Thomas) was excellent, but maybe that little change will get us over the edge."

Kromm has a less boisterous demeanor than Thomas and is a veteran coach who can adapt to his talent. Besides Hunt, key returners include forwards Ryan Hayes, Andrew Clark and Matt Bergland, and defensemen Ryan Constant, Shawn Boutin and Nathan Deck. The Islanders pitched in players such as Milner, defenseman Sean Escobedo and forward Kirill Kabanov, and Kromm added tested ECHL players including Corey Trivino and Brayden Irwin.

"I feel good about what we have and how training camp went," Kromm said. "We know what we have to go out and do."

The Thunder made a series of late moves to update its roster Friday. Kromm added defensemen Mike Keenan and Mike Dalhuisen, who were assigned by the Islanders.